CBE school repairs fall behind $1B

Parents note poor conditions, public board faces budget crunch

With deferred maintenance costs now at $1 billion in public schools, parents say Calgary students are facing increasingly challenging environments, from eating lunch on old, dirty floors, bundling up in classes with leaking windows, or avoiding unsanitary washrooms in disrepair.

“Schools are not just overcrowded, they are poorly maintained,” said Barb Silva, spokeswoman for the Support Our Students advocacy group.

“This is something we’ve been concerned about since 2015. But as more work continues to be ignored, the costs just keep escalating.”

With two kids at an inner-city elementary school, Silva says her son arrives home at least once a week feeling ill with a stomach ache because he avoids using washrooms that are dirty.

Silva adds that the school’s students, like many throughout the city, are eating lunch on old, dirty floors in hallways and gymnasiums.

“That becomes a serious health concern.”

Silva added that as deferred maintenance results in fewer funds overall, principals are also forced to spend less on caretaking to prevent cuts to instructional services.

The Calgary Board of Education is considering larger classes and cuts to full-day kindergarten as it faces a $35-million gap in funding since the NDP government released its budget last month.

But a CBE financial document outlining future facility costs is presenting further budget challenges, saying deferred maintenance is at $179 million for urgent repairs, such as aging roofs and boilers, and as high as $1 billion when deferred lifecycle replacements are included.

The document also highlights that while the CBE requires at least $46 million annually to fund deferred maintenance, it has only received $29 million each year over the past five years.

“When we consider projected future growth and a continued student complexity, we simply do not have capacity to absorb additional costs,” the document says, estimating more than half of CBE schools are over 50 years old.

While the province has said it is funding enrolment growth across the province, providing the CBE with an additional $20 million for its $1.4-billion budget, public school officials say the funding is not keeping up with inflationary costs.

“Deficits continue to be driven by funding not keeping pace with the escalating costs of operating the CBE at consistent student service levels; to operate within constraint of labour union collective agreements, and operate 24 new, replacement and modernized schools.”

CBE parent Carolyn Blasetti, with one student in elementary school and another attending a large, inner-city high school, said deferred maintenance is a growing concern for staff and students.

“In high schools, it’s especially difficult to keep up because you’re dealing with such large populations,” Blasetti said, adding her child’s high school has seen significant cutbacks in maintenance over the last two years.

And with aging roofs, windows, plumbing and HVAC systems, Blasetti admitted kids can be uncomfortable, with some classrooms too cold and others too warm.

Education Minister David Eggen said the province has provided $130 million to the CBE since 2014-15 to help address school maintenance, with further plans to provide almost $39 million to support life-cycle maintenance.

“Given that we have fully funded for enrolment, we’ve put almost $100 million more into CBE, we expect them to balance their budget without affecting frontline staff or classroom programming.”

But the CBE says in addition to rising maintenance costs, it’s also facing an annual $1-million bill for carbon tax on heating fuel and gasoline for busing, after the new provincial legislation took effect in January 2016. In an effort to offset the carbon tax, the CBE is now the city’s second-largest solar power generator, with 22 sites and nine more under development.

Last week, Jason Kenney, leader of the United Conservative Party, demanded answers in the legislature for the $1 million in carbon tax costs facing the CBE at the same time it may be forced to cut services, including full-day kindergarten. But Premier Rachel Notley dismissed the question, calling the assertion “ridiculous” and “reaching beyond all sense of logical debate.”

Deficits continue to be driven by funding not keeping pace with the escalating costs of operating the CBE at consistent student service levels.